Obamacare – despite the reassurances of its proponents – by imposing a top-down management system, aims squarely at the physician-patient relationship.

The organizations being assembled to participate in this plan intend to make sparing use of physicians in the care of individual patients.

Instead, we’ll be triaged by non-physician “providers” and see highly trained physicians only as a last resort.

Preparations are well under way in your doctor’s office. All patient interactions are being reduced to pairing of diagnosis and treatment codes. Electronic prescribing and medical record systems designed to facilitate audits are being mandated in the name of safety and efficiency … despite evidence they provide neither. Weight, blood pressure, lifestyle questions, all are included in the mandates and locked into the government-approved software – never mind whether they relate to the person’s complaints.

The patient visit is so encumbered with these requirements, they occupy more time than the actual treatment.

Obamacare is creating a politicized medical world in which physicians who are sworn to be accountable directly to the person who comes for help will be instead answer to the government. We patients need to let our legislators know where we stand, or we’ll wind up with what we deserve instead of what we need.

I hope that the Irvine City Council members will remember the park’s history and not allow more houses to be built there. The Great Park was voted for by the people of Orange County. We chose the Great Park over having a new airport.

Architects worldwide were given a chance to submit plans for the park to be on par or better than New York’s Central Park and San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. Eventually, the Great Park group narrowed down the plans to six choices. O.C. residents received many fliers and the newspapers had all the plans laid out for residents to study.

The people of Orange County voted. We chose our park plan.

I hope that not one house more than permitted in our plan will be built on that land. That is not what Orange County voted for. I hope the council members will honor that.

– Christine Andres, Tustin

Tech in schools a double-edged sword

The article about the test scores being flagged at Orange High opened my eyes about the severity of social media impacting kids at school. I realize that technology is a double-edged sword when it comes to children and education – and it is upsetting when incidents like this occur.

According to the article, “an Orange High student’s social media posting during standardized testing landed the campus on a list of schools statewide with flagged scores … after a student snapped a photo of the cover of a test booklet during the school’s spring Standardized Testing and Reporting.”

These incidents may seem inevitable with the level of connection individuals have today, but it is important to implement harsher punishments and make it clear to students that academic dishonesty will not be tolerated – especially in the form of social media.

Cheating has always been an issue in a school setting because there will always be individuals who want to beat the system. The difference today, however, is it’s not just one student passing a note to another – it’s potentially one student posting information to thousands at once.

School systems need to implement a more strict method of confiscating electronic devices during school hours.

It is a shame students can’t use technology for the sole purpose of learning while at school. New devices provide the potential for exponential knowledge and information at the touch of a finger. But since the temptation to cheat will always be there, electronic devices simply can’t be allowed during school hours – period.

– Vanessa Bounds, Tustin

Thanks from afar, to a local do-gooder

Recently, we were invited by California friends to the Tustin outdoor theater. “Hairspray” was the attraction.

By the way it was a delightful, fun theater evening.

However, just before intermission I discovered the center diamond in my wedding ring was missing. After taking a deep breath and quietly telling my husband, I asked our friends if they had a flashlight. Two of the women did and just as intermission lights came up we began to look. The ground our tables were sitting on was flattened, much walked on grass and much dusty dirt.

The patrons at the two tables beside us also began to look. Unbelievably one of the ladies at the next table found the diamond. She immediately handed it to me. I could hardly believe her kindness. She or anyone else could have put it in her pocket with no one the wiser. After a few tears on my part and some grateful hugs and thank yous, the play resumed.

I did get her name and address and she will forever be on my “Best Friend” list. I just wanted your readers to know that there is at least one very kind and honest lady living in Orange, I will never forget her!

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